Dan Savage will speak Oct. 17 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as part of LGBT History Month festivities. (UAB)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Best known for his controversial sex column, "Savage Love," the noted writer, TV personality and political and social activist Dan Savage will speak at the University of Alabama at Birmingham next month.

The event is part of UAB's recognition of LGBT History Month, which will include a celebration of National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11.

Savage's sex advice column, "Savage Love," is syndicated in newspapers and websites throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. He is also the editorial director of The Stranger, a weekly alternative newspaper in Seattle started by Tim Keck, co-founder of The Onion.

Among other publications, his writings have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Magazine, GQ, Rolling Stone, The Onion and on Salon.com.

Savage is best known for "honest approach to sex, love and relationships," according to his biography provided by UAB.

His sex column began as an attempt to provide mocking advice to straight readers in response to straight columnists whom he said were "clueless" when responding to letters from gay people, according to an interview in The Onion's A.V. Club.

The author of several books, Savage has appeared on CNN, MSNBC and The Colbert Report. He is also a contributor to Ira Glass' This American Life and has appeared on National Public Radio's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher and ABC's 20/20.

Savage and his husband Terry Miller started the It Gets Better Project in 2010 to help prevent suicide among LGBT youths facing harassment.

Through his writings and public appearances, Savage has made several controversial comments throughout his career, clashing with both right-wing social conservatives and the left-wing gay establishment.